Traditional Christmas Curry

It’s nearly time for the traditional Christmas curry. I’m not talking about a leftover turkey curry, although it’s possible that I’ll be trying out another of the easy leftover turkey curry recipes from the turkey curry recipes on the Curry Focus website. No, I’m talking about my traditional Christmas Day curry.

Curry may not be your traditional Christmas Day main meal but it is certainly mine. And I’ve been having a Christmas Curry most years for about the last 10 years so it can be called traditional. Well, it’s traditional for me.

Over the years I’ve made some really great, yummy, curries from the fantastic range of Curry Focus curry recipes.

If you’re looking for inspiration for a Christmas curry, why not try one of my favourites?

First, there’s a stunning Beef Madras curry recipe. This is a simple curry to make. People tend to get put off a beef curry because of the longer cooking time but, really, how difficult is it to wander into the kitchen every 5 or 10 minutes to give a curry a gentle stir and check that all looks OK? Like most curries, this one really gets a big taste boost if you make it a day or two before you need it. That extra time lets the meat and spices blend together really well.

The next yummy curry that I love is a Chicken Jalfrezi curry. Once again, this is an easy curry to make and the total cooking time is only about 35 to 40 minutes. And, just like the Beef Madras curry, you can make this curry ahead of when it is needed with a resultant taste boost. In fact, you can freeze the cooked Chicken Jalfrezi curry (as you can with the Beef Madras curry) and just defrost it and heat it up when you need it.

If you like your curries to be a bit milder then cut down on the chillies or chilli powder. Of course, if you like more heat you can add more chillies or chilli powder.

There are lots and lots of curry recipes that have been received by a very discerning Curry Focus taste team (OK, a few friends and me). You can see the full list of curry recipe reviews and sort them into taste or spice/heat levels by clicking on the little orange arrows.

If your Christmas Day is going to be busy, I do recommend that you make the curry the day before which gives you a stress-free cooking schedule on Christmas Day which just consists of heating up the curry and cooking the rice. If you’re making the Gujarati Toor Dal curry, you may want to add the coriander (cilantro) at the last minute so that it is fresh and gives you that delicious taste kick.

I hope you have a great Christmas Day curry and that it becomes a tradition with you, just as it did with me.